Sausage Dog Sanctuary Food Superfood: English Country Duck review

The Good band is where our scoring lands this, alongside the middle of the adult dry market, and the arithmetic behind it is refreshingly plain. Duck accounts for 65% of the recipe with 22% of that already dried. Protein converts to 30.4% of dry matter, fat to 17.4%, and estimated carbohydrate comes out at 38.6% against the 46.2% typical for a dry food.

That combination is what a meat-led kibble actually looks like once you strip the marketing away. What holds it back is what the label does not say. There is no dosed additive panel, and the omega 3 supplement has no source attached to it.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Duck (35% Freshly Prepared Duck, 22% Dried Duck, 5% Duck Fat & 3% Duck Stock), Sweet Potato, Beans, Beet Pulp, Dried Superfood Blend* (Including Parsnip, Beetroot, Orange, Asparagus, Pumpkin), Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Vitamins, Fructooligosaccharides (192 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (48 mg/kg), Olive Extract (0.01%). *Each equivalent to 4% Fresh Ingredients

Duck is declared at 65%, split on the label into 35% freshly prepared duck and 22% dried duck, with duck fat at 5% and duck stock at 3%. Printing that split is what makes the headline trustworthy. Fresh duck leaves most of its weight behind in the oven. The 22% already dried does much of the real work, and 22% dried meat is a strong figure by any standard. Protein converts to 30.4% of dry matter and fat to 17.4%.

Sweet potato and beans do the starch work, and no cereal, white potato or pea protein appears anywhere on the list. Carbohydrate is estimated at 38.6% of dry matter, well under the 46.2% typical for an adult dry food. That is the clearest sign that the meat share is doing real work here.

The superfood blend is parsnip, beetroot, orange, asparagus and pumpkin, added dried, with the label noting each is equivalent to 4% of fresh ingredients. Dried vegetables in that position contribute fibre and colour, with a modest antioxidant load. They earn their place in the recipe, but the duck is what this food stands on.

The prebiotics are dosed in print at 192 mg/kg for FOS and 48 mg/kg for MOS, and olive extract at 0.01% sits at the very end as a natural antioxidant. Beet pulp does the fibre work alongside them, with crude fibre finishing at 3.3% of dry matter.

Two entries reward a closer look. Ash converts to 10.3% of dry matter. That is high for a kibble and usually reflects bone arriving with the dried meat. It is no trouble for a healthy adult dog, but it is a number worth knowing. And the omega 3 supplement is the only ingredient here that names no source at all, which is a conspicuous gap on a label that is otherwise happy to print percentages against almost everything.

After the vitamins and minerals the composition simply stops. There is no dosed additive panel on this bag. Zinc and copper levels cannot be checked, and neither can selenium. Whether the trace minerals are chelated is not stated either. On an ingredients list this open, that omission is the one thing that keeps you guessing.

£6.50 a kilo, sold in 6kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat about 235 grams a day, working from roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That comes to £1.52 a day. The calorie figure behind that is an estimate, and the label's own table is drawn up for far smaller dogs. Treat both as a starting point and let the waistline settle it.